March is a good time to prune fruit plants in Maryland because you can fully assess winter damage. Raspberries, however, can be pruned any time canes are fully dormant. There are several ways to train and manage brambles depending upon their growth habits: erect vs. trailing blackberries, and suckering vs. clump growers. Refer to the graphic below for a simple trellis for bramble plants. Fruiting canes of all brambles (except primocane-bearing types) die soon after fruiting is completed. Remove these dead canes when they become dormant or in late winter.

Use Twine and place supports 25 ft. apart

Spacing of canes after pruning 12- 18 inches
All bramble plants also require heading-back cuts during the growing season, as well as the removal of weak, damaged, and diseased canes. The graphics and table below summarize the training and pruning systems used for brambles.

Top left: top the new canes at 36 in.
Top rt.: laterals (side shoots) develop after topping.
Bottom: cut back laterals to 6 - 8 inches

Top left: top young canes at 34 - 36 inches.
Top rt.: laterals (side shoots) will develop after topping.
Bottom: cut back laterals to 18 inches when dormant.
Recommended Cultural Systems and Pruning Practices for Established Brambles
* Hill system refers to spacing plants and not allowing them to form a hedge. It does not imply that the soil around the plants should be mounded-up.
Species | Cultural systems (hedge or hill*) |
At Planting |
Summer |
Dormant pruning; winter to |
---|---|---|---|---|
Red raspberry summer-bearing |
Hedge; plants |
Head back to |
Narrow the |
Select canes of no less than a pencil thickness. Cut back to ¾ of their length. Remove weak |
Red raspberry, |
Hedge |
Head back to |
Narrow the |
Cut all canes off near ground level in late February or early March. |
Black |
Hill* |
Head back to |
Top canes at 36 - 40 in. to force |
Head back laterals to 12 in. or no less than a pencil thickness. Remove weak canes, leaving |
Purple |
Hedge/hill* |
Head back to |
Top canes at 40 in. to force lateral branches |
Head back laterals to 18 in. or no less than a pencil thickness. Remove weak canes, leaving |
Thorny blackberry | Hill*; plants must be tied to a trellis |
Head back to |
Head back at top wire of trellis. | Tie 4 or 5 vigorous canes per hill to the trellis. Top canes, if not tipped during previous summer, at 6 to 7 feet and cut back laterals at 18 in. Remove laterals that rise too low on the cane making picking difficult. Remove dead (fruited) canes, if this was not done since the previous summer. |